iPhone 6 Sells 10 Million in Three Days

The debut of Apple’s iPhone 6 hit record numbers over the weekend, selling 10 million units in just three days. Sales began on Friday with two new models, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. High sales of the 6 Plus suggested a healthy consumer demand for smartphones with larger screens.

Frenzied customers flocked to Apple stores around the globe on the morning of the release, with many lining up in the hundreds to be the first to get their hands on the new product. Many stores reported selling out in just a few hours and had to turn disappointed customers away. With 10 million iPhone 6 models sold in just three days, the sales figures far surpass last year’s record of 9 million when the iPhone 5 was introduced.

Shoppers in New York and San Francisco had lined up as early as two days before to make sure they could buy the product. At New York’s Fifth Avenue store, the line stretched over 10 blocks and was patrolled by uniformed police officers. The crowd allegedly cheered continuously for fifteen minutes before the iPhone 6 finally went on sale.

The new iPhone generated so much excitement in the early hours of Friday morning that the Apple Inc. website allegedly collapsed. Users logging on to the online store at midnight when the iPhone 6 went on sale reported slow loading times and a several hour wait to order their new product. This left many customers frustrated at the delay.

Due to the tremendous backlog of orders, consumers in the U.S. are now facing a wait of up to 10 days for their iPhone 6. The 6 Plus, which has proven logistically harder to manufacture and disperse, may take up to four weeks to be delivered. But as always, Apple consumers seem prepared for the wait and many are eagerly anticipating their new iPhone 6.

According to Apple Executive Director Tim Cook, even more models could have been sold had supplies been available. The company has often struggled to keep up with the massive demand for its newest products, especially when the iPhone has been redesigned. This year has proved to be no exception, though Tim Cook did say that his team had “managed the manufacturing ramp better than ever before.”

After boasting its new record of selling 10 million iPhone 6s in just three days, Apple was quick to announce that this weekend’s release did not include China. As one of the world’s largest emerging consumers of smartphone technology, China’s exclusion from the iPhone 6 release prompted some analysts to originally predict much lower numbers of sales.

While Apple has yet to say when their newest product will hit China’s shelves, the company has confirmed that the iPhone 6 will be available in 115 countries by the end of the year. September 26 marks the next date for release, with the product going on sale in Russia, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and in a dozen countries across Europe.

With 10 million units sold in just three days and the release of the larger model iPhone 6 Plus, Apple is pushing into the territory of Samsung and other corporations that engineer larger smartphones. Even die-hard Android users are being lured in, with an online survey suggesting that up to a third of Android owners are considering upgrading to the iPhone 6.